Method of packaging artificial sausage casings and product



Jan. 21, 1936. B, SCHENK 2,028,691

METHOD OF PACKAGING ARTIFICIAL SAUSAGE CASINGS AND PRODUCT Filed June 8, 1934 'WWII Peieeied .im 21, 193s ammi k vmurieron on mono ING snusaca casinos AND raonuo'r n. senenachieare, nl., mete ne tionofvlldnla on, Chicago. lll., a m011- Aiipueaaenrune 3,1934., sei-na Ne. 129,091 1o (crm-4s) This invention relates particularly to a method of packaging artificial sausage-casings, or the like, and to the new article of manufacture thereby produced.

-'I'he primary object is to provide a novel packaging method and packaged product, which introduces substantial economies into the manufacture and use of artiiicial sausage-casings.'

Seamless cellulose casings, for example, are

19 now being manufactured on a large scale by an .American manufacturer. In dealing with casings of relatively small diameters and thin walls, it has been an extensive practice of the manufacturer above Preferred to to ated, purified, dried^tubing on amandrel; then slip the shirred tubing onto a wooden supportingrod, or elongated dowe'l-pin; and then make shipment of the product, thus loaded, to sausage manufacturers. It was the practice for the sau. go sage manufacturer to place the wooden dowelpinin alignment with the stutter-horn of a sau- -sage machine, slip theshirred casingvfroxn the dowel-pin onto `the stutter-horn, and then proceed in the usual manner to stuff the casing. 5 The` practice referred to involved`unnecessarily large expense for wooden supporting rods and imnecessarilyllarge expense for freight.

The present invention makes use of the principle of preliminarily shirring a casingupon -a so suitable' mandrel, then compressing the casing axially to ybring 'the folds into close mutually supportingsrelation, and then conilning the casing ina container which will prevent undue expansionof the casing, and which is suitable for :z5 shipping purposes. The improvedv package can lbe'slip'ped onto the horn of a sausage-stumps machine, a'fter which the containermay bereadily removed, leaving the compressed shirred casing upon the stuiIer-horn. ,The stuillng operation 40A may then be carried on in the usual manner.

vThe invention is illustrated -in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a simple form` ofc4 container -for the compressed, shined casing; 45 Fig. 2,ayertical longitudinal sectional v iew of the same; Fig.l 3, a broken` view of a mandrel showing` a compressed, shirred casing thereon, the

container being capable of being slippedinto position to house the casing while the latter is still on th mandrel; and Fig. 4, aplan view of the casing still on the mandrel, a retainingband having 4been slippedonto the packaged product. v.

'55 The packaged product shownin Fig. 4,0m be the regener- .Y ness of from a little more than .0007" to, say,

l The container` C is shown as an elongated mematl,

removed `from the mandrel by ending' tudinally oif the end of the mandrel. l

In the illustration given, A designates a manit longi-f drei; B,ja compressed, shirred casing; C, an

open-sided container: and C', lanfenc'lless re; tainer-band adapted to retain the casing in the container during shipment and handling.

To place the casingA incondition for packaging, it is first preliminarily shirred on the mandrel A. .'I'he casing may, for example, be reduced bythe preliminary shin-ing operation from a length of about132 feet. to a length of, say, 12

-' inches t0 16 inches. -It liay then be reduced by longitudinal compression on the same mandrel or on another mandrel fto, say, aboutone-third of its shirred-length. In the latter operation, the folds ofthe shirred casing4` are so closely packed together as to make these. folds mutually supporting.

After compression, the casing is. capable of be- .ing handled with considerable freedom and is self-sustaining i'n large measure.' The delicate product, which 'ordinarily may have a wall-thick- .00008", for casings having a range of diameters from about H" to 1%", can bey safely compressed in the manner stated above. 'I'he reduction from the original length may extend asvfar as about l/130th, although it is preferred not to carry the reduction quite so far.

It has been foundhery practicable to reduce a Atube of the length of 33 feet to a length 'of 'something les than 5", and then allow it to expand slightly in the retainer, say to 5%".

ber comprising side walls l and -2 andend-walls 3, the latter provided with U-sliaped openings I". 'Ihe container may be formed from a narrow strip of cardboard, the ends being spliced as indicated It will be evident that after the shirred casing B haabeen compressedto' the condition shown in Fig. 3,the container C may be placed,` by a lateral movement, over the 'casingwhile the latter is still on-the mandrel, the slots 3l accommodating the mandrel. Thevendless band C', preferably of light cardboard, is thenA slipped onto c the package, after which the loadedcontainer is slipped longitudinally oif the mandre The loaded containers 'are packed -in suitable cardboard boxes and may be shipped to sausage manufacturers in the -usual manner.

The Isausage manufacturer takes the loaded container and slips it longitudinally onto the stutter-horn of the sausage machine (not shown) he then removes ortears oi! the band C' and then lifts the container by lateral (upward) movement from the stuiIer-horn, thus leaving the compressed, shirred casing on the stutter-horn. The stuffing operation may then be carried out in the,

usual manner. The preliminariiy shirred casing may be compressed so far as to permit the container to be slipped readily over the compressed product. A slow expansion` of the compressed product com.- mences after the compressing-pressure has been removed; and,- were the compressed product leftfree from restraint, it would grow greatly -in length. However, it is readily held against undue' expansion by a light container of the form described.k The invention provides a novel method and product which very substantially reduces the cost of manufacture, reduces the4 freight-costs,F and greatly facilitates the manufacture and use oi' the product. f

It has beenxfound that a shirred casing prepared in the manner described above can be stuffed more successfully if it is placed onthe 'stuifer horn so as to be drawn `ofi.I in a direction oppositethe direction of shirring. This is due to the fact that in shirring the casing the outer edges of the shining-folds have a tendency to bend or curl forwardly. In Fig. 3, the arrow indicates the direction in which the casing was fed on the mandrel in the shirring operation; and in Fig. 4, the proper direction for stuffing is indicatedy on e retainer-band C.

' the employmentof the present' invention,

hand-contact with the casing may be eliminated or reduced to a minimum, whichis of importance v `What I regard as new and desire to secure by l. A method of` preparing artificial sausage- A oasings for shipment 'and handling which comprisesi applying to acompressed, shirred casing while ona mandrel a container having cut-away 50 end-walls which accommodate the mandrel.

' 2. A method of preparingsausagej-casings for shipment and handling which comprises applyingl to a compressed, shirred casing a container hav- 4ing an open s ide and having end-walls provided f with openings, adapted topermit the packaged product to be slipped onto a stuifer-horn.

` 3. A method of preparing sausage-casings for 5 shipment and handling which comprises: applying to a compressed, shirred casing, while/supported on a mandrel, an open-sided container having an opening in its end adapted to accommodate the mandrel; and applying an endless band about the package, f

- 4. A new article of manufacture comprising a container having end-walls provided with endopenings, and a shirred Acasing confined in said container between said end-walls, the bore of said shirred casing registering with said endopenings, thus permitting the casing to be applied 'to a stuifer-horn without removal from said container.

5. A new article of manufacture comprising a '20 container having an open side and having endwalls provided with recesses, and a shirred casing in said container having a bore registering with said recesses.' whereby the packaged casing may be slipped onto a stuier-horn and the container removed by lateral movement.

6. A'new article of manufacture comprising a container having two open sides and having an end-wall provided with `openings adapted to admit a Studer-horn, and a shirred casing in said container having a bore registering with said openings.

' '7. vAn article as specied in claim '6, combined with a band encircling said container and serving to prevent displacement of the shirred casing.

8. A new article of manufacture comprising a container consisting orf an elongatedv cardboard band having recessed' end-walls, and a compressed, `shirred casing held under compression' within said container and having a bore registering with the recesses insaid end-walls.

9. An article as specified infclaim 8, combined with a relatively small transverse band encircling the container and conilning the casing against lateral displacement.

l0. A container for;the purpose set forth-comprising an elongated endless cardboard band having recessed end-walls, said container having two opposite open sides, and a relatively short trans'- verse. band encircling the intermediate portion of 60 BERNARD H. 

